Indicators of Quality and Child Outcomes in Family Child Care

While there has been considerable research on the indicators of quality in center-based early childhood programs, there is scant research on the correlates of quality in family child care. A recent study was conducted to increase our understanding of the relationship between indicators of quality and child outcomes in the context of family child care. The study addressed two questions. 1) What provider-level characteristics predict observed quality practices? 2) Are quality practices and providers’ professional attitudes and beliefs associated with children’s pre-academic and social-emotional skills? To answer these questions, the researchers conducted a secondary analysis of data collected in 2004 for the Quality Interventions for Early Care and Education (QUINCE) study. This study was an experimental evaluation of a multi-state, consultation-based, professional development intervention that included provider interviews, quality observations of the learning environment and teaching practices at two points in time, and assessments of children’s pre-academic and socialemotional skills and behaviors. The current study focused only on the family child care settings in the sample and used multivariate methods to examine proximal and distal predictors of quality ratings